


Quid Pro Quo

by Gamebird



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Canon-Compliant, Dubious Consent, Handcuffs, KBB Mini Bang, Kylux - Freeform, Kylux Big Bang 2019, M/M, Oral Sex, Post-TLJ, consensual but coercive, they defile Snoke's throne a little more
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-02
Updated: 2019-09-02
Packaged: 2020-10-04 03:35:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20464349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gamebird/pseuds/Gamebird
Summary: On the edge of a coup, General Hux is arrested and brought before Supreme Leader Ren. Ren has a deal to offer him.





	Quid Pro Quo

**Author's Note:**

> So many thanks to Sunny for the prompt, ideas, and brainstorming. I am thrilled to have been partnered with Artyaourter for art for this. She also provided the title, beta work, and encouragement! She did a lovely panel of art illustrating a pivotal scene in the middle of the fic!

General Hux had his plan for the day – continuing rescue and salvage operations on the wreck of the _Supremacy_, mixed in with status meetings on the combat and security actions of the mobile part of the fleet as it solidified their takeover of the galaxy. Coruscant had fallen overnight. A short list of other planets should be added by evening shift.

That was when he would meet with certain other members of the High Command, ostensibly to discuss their overall strategy. He supposed that wasn't far from the mark. Truly, though, they were going to finalize their plans for removing Kylo Ren from the position of supreme leader. They needed to do it quickly, before the delegates from the conquered New Republic came calling and more importantly, before Ren figured out what they were up to and put an end to them and their plans both.

He stretched carefully. This was the first morning he'd been able to walk comfortably since the Battle of Crait and the unwarranted abuse he'd suffered from their so-called 'supreme leader'. He could finally breathe without pain. Though his side still ached, it was at least manageable. He adjusted the collar of his uniform, trying to tug it upward so the bruises weren't quite so evident. He wouldn't have another monster like Snoke ruling the Order, alone and unquestionable. Not if Hux could help it.

He was as ready as he was going to be for the day ahead of him. Hux moved to the door with a crisp stride, fully intending to march into the hallway and to the left at full speed like normal. At first glance, the two stormtroopers in the hall didn't catch his attention. It was odd for them to be standing there instead of moving on patrol, but it wasn't his concern. Many routines had been thrown awry by the conditions of battle and recovery. Then they turned toward him. One of them brought up a blaster. The other stepped toward him. "Sir."

Hux stopped immediately. This was enough of a deviation in the pattern of his otherwise orderly life to catch his attention. Also, he was in danger. He looked up and down the hall, trying not to be too obvious about it. It was empty, save for the backside of one other stormtrooper as far down as he could see. He presumed they'd blocked the corridor specifically so there would be no witnesses to this. He looked back to the trooper who had stepped forward. "What is the meaning of this?" he asked in a low, cold voice.

"You are under arrest by order of Supreme Leader Ren. We are to take you to him."

He sized the man up, then looked at the other trooper. She looked ready to shoot him and nervous about it to boot. It wasn't a good combination. From what he could tell, even if he somehow overpowered these two, there were troopers at each end of the hall bracketing him. All he'd be able to do was hole up in his quarters until they tossed a stun grenade in to take him out. It was useless. "Very well." He started down the hall.

"Sir!" There was a rapid shuffling of feet as the trooper covering him shifted position.

He stopped, looking back. The other walked over to him, pulling loose binders from his utility belt.

Hux let each word drip with loathing. "I am to be shackled?"

There was a beat of hesitation before the man said, "You are under arrest." The trooper held out the binders, snapping them open and waiting for Hux to respond.

They weren't there to escort him. Or at least, not _only_ to escort him. Arrest had a protocol and that protocol included physical restraint when in an unsecured area like the hallway to officer's quarters. He looked at the one with the blaster. She still looked nervous – it was the crouch that gave it away, along with the slight waver of the blaster barrel.

They were following their orders, just like they'd been trained. He wished he knew if the gun was set to stun or not. But then, it didn't really matter. He was dead either way, either here or by Ren's hand. The only reason Ren would be arresting him would be if he knew about tonight's meeting.

Reluctantly, Hux extended his hands. The trooper seemed to reconsider. "Your coat, sir."

The other one said, "And his sidearm."

Hux sighed. "Of course." He shrugged off his coat, declining the opportunity to throw it at the one with the blaster as a distraction. His blaster pistol followed. His hands were cuffed. The trooper hooked the extra blaster to his belt, then eyed the coat. He folded it carefully and draped it over Hux's hands as though he was carrying it. Hux raised a brow. While yes, this meant the trooper didn't have to carry the thing, this also served to conceal that he was a prisoner.

That was … odd. He'd been as involved in the training and education of stormtroopers as he'd been able over the years. He'd been their leader, the face they saw most mornings and evenings on broadcast, the one the younger generation looked up to. It ran through his mind that it might be difficult to be the one charged with taking him to his execution. He would have scoffed at the gesture with the coat as weak and inefficient any other time. But it was his last walk through the halls of the Finalizer. It was nice for his people to allow him to do it with the illusion of dignity.

Hux was led into what passed as Kylo Ren's throne room. Or audience chamber. For the moment, it was no more than a repurposed conference room, with the table replaced by a projector table, the chairs removed, and Snoke's own throne brought over from the Supremacy in some nod toward symbolic continuity. Otherwise, the room was bare and aside from Ren, empty.

His reign was young, still measured in days. Personal guards, security measures, or even decorations had not been priorities, which was one of many reasons why Hux and the others had resolved they needed to strike quickly. They had not moved quickly enough, though. He frowned bitterly as they stopped a handful of paces before where Kylo sat. One of the troopers pressed on his shoulder, urging him to kneel. Hux refused to yield. He stood straighter instead.

The troopers hesitated. Standard protocol for a noncompliant prisoner would be to kick the back of the knee and shove them down. His rank and history with them shouldn't have made a difference. Hux learned something very important from their pause – these two stormtroopers weren't sure he would be killed. They looked to Ren, who moved a single finger downward. Then the kick came.

He winced when his knees crashed into the hard deck. The male trooper pressed his weight casually on Hux's shoulder, keeping him there. The other took away his coat and lifted his wrists. She grabbed the anchor from where it was attached to the cuffs. A braided wire extended from the device as she set the anchor on the floor and activated the magnetic seal. Hux's hands were tethered now. He could not lift them above knee-height, meaning he couldn't stand if he wanted to.

The troopers backed off at another hand signal from the supreme leader, dropping his coat to the side, along with the blaster confiscated earlier. They left the room entirely, door sealing behind them. Silence stretched between them. Despite the hesitation of the guards, Hux remained vaguely surprised Ren hadn't killed him immediately. That meant he wanted something out of him – probably the identities of everyone else he needed to kill.

"Do you know why you're here?" Ren asked.

Hux looked up at him from making a minor adjustment where his shirt cuffs abutted the wrist binders. It was difficult to do with both hands bound. "Illuminate me."

"Still giving orders, even now?" Ren chuckled.

"Still asking questions," Hux mocked with no intention of being duped into a confession, "even now. Tell me what you know."

Ren slouched in the seat, elbow on the arm of it. His loosely curled hand rested against the front of his chin and his lower lip. "I know that most people in your position would be looking to make a deal."

"Is that what you want?" Hux asked dubiously. "A deal?"

"What would you offer?"

Hux chuckled back. He shifted his position to cross-legged, making himself comfortable since this had the appearance of a long discussion. "Have you ever wanted what I had to offer?"

"Actually … yes. But your habit of answering questions with more questions grows tiresome."

Hux's eyes narrowed for a second, wondering at Ren's tone. It was both resigned and exasperated – not the tone one took with someone you'd already written off. "I could go back to issuing orders."

Ren made a displeased expression.

"Shall I?" Hux asked, undeterred by the warning look. For one thing, he noted he had not been told not to. He felt an odd lifting sensation in his stomach, like … hope. "We might make more progress that way."

Ren's mouth worked uncomfortably, then he said, "Go ahead."

Hux paused only a moment to deal with his surprise. Then he said, "To answer your original question, I assumed I was arrested and brought here in chains so you could either execute me, interrogate me, or both. But no one offers to negotiate with dead men. That you do tells me there are conditions under which I might leave this room alive, or even intact. You dangle that in front of me and find it tiresome that I want to know what those conditions are? For shame, Supreme Leader. I thought you understood me better than that."

Ren stood from the throne like a predator rising from concealment. He stalked over to Hux and ran a hand through his hair possessively. It was overly intimate. Hux didn't flinch away, unwilling to give Ren the satisfaction. He peered up at the man dressed all in black, trying to read the meaning of the gesture. Was this only an expression of dominance? Was he so insecure that he needed such, or was he trying to send some other message?

"As you have deduced," Ren said, "I don't want to kill you. I want something else, but that requires willingness on your part." He let his hand fall to his side. Hux's eyes widened. He looked from the hand to Ren's face, suddenly reading the subtext. He was astonished by it and shocked into silence. Ren continued, "You are in chains because you tried to orchestrate a coup against me, building a consensus to secure your position once I'm dead. There are other ways you could secure it. Ones that don't involve killing me. Or either of us dying."

Hux let his eyes focus past Ren's hand to his groin. "What do you want of me, again?" His eyes went back to Ren's face as he tried to put this together. All those times when Ren had invaded his space, brushed his shoulder, or snarked at him in ways that were infuriatingly close to teasing ran through Hux's mind. Hux had thought he'd made it perfectly clear, back then, what the terms were. But maybe he'd missed Ren's signals as thoroughly as Ren had missed his.

"You know what I want," Ren said. "I want _you_."

Hux swallowed slowly. His heart was beating faster and his groin felt heavier than it should, given he wasn't yet admitting to any attraction or arousal. There was nothing going on here that was sexy, he told himself. He was being threatened. Extorted. Blackmailed. Fuck or die. He should be terrified. Instead, he felt a flush heat his skin. "Well then. You certainly seem to have me."

"Do I?" Ren said, his voice a low rumble even without that damned mask. Until this moment, Hux had had no strong opinion either way on the loss of the mask. All his feelings about it had been strategic – it humanized Ren, but at the same time he emoted too clearly and recklessly. He had considered that Ren's visage was more appealing to the masses than Snoke's, but only now was he realizing it could be appealing to him as well.

Hux yanked his hands up to the extent they would go, reminding them both of the situation.

"Those stay," Ren said. "For now."

"It limits your options."

"But not too much." Ren moved his hand to Hux's face, his gloved thumb pulling down Hux's lower lip, but only because Hux kept his head where it was and let him. His lip popped back up and Ren drew the now-damp leather down Hux's chin.

"For now," Hux echoed. He tipped his head back, exposing his bruised throat, and half-shut his eyes. He was hard. The cross-legged pose was becoming uncomfortable. This was awkward. He wasn't supposed to be turned on by this, but he was so close to real power here. There was no consensus necessary with the difficult members of the High Command (and obviously one of his confidants had sold him out). They were like herding loth-cats anyway. Ren was a Corellian sand panther.

"I _do_ want what you have to offer." Ren smiled slightly, rotating his hand to stroke Hux's cheek. "I need your army. I need your ambition. I need your support."

Hux parted his teeth and tongued Ren's glove between thumb and forefinger. "And in return, I get …?"

"I will do everything I can to address your resentment." Ren's voice was soft. His eyes were rapt on what Hux was doing with his mouth.

Hux shifted to his knees again so the fabric of his pants wasn't stretched across his groin. "That might be a lot." He bared his teeth and put them, gently, on Ren's hand. He could probably break a bone if he bore down. The human jaw was deceptively strong.

"You can always try to kill me again later."

Hux slid his mouth to the end of Ren's hand, pressing in on the tips of the fingers to catch the leather of the glove. He jerked his head sideways, tugging off the glove. It fell to the floor. Hux looked up at him as Ren opened his fly. The man was big and half-hard. Hux shifted, moving around the anchor that tied him to the floor. He sat over it so he had enough slack to reach himself.

Ren stroked himself slowly and glanced down at what Hux's hands were up to. "Do I need to let you go?"

"That's an interesting question." Interesting that _now_ Ren would offer release, as though Hux's pleasure mattered to him. "Tempting … but no. You have to come to me, if I'm what you want."

Ren took a step forward. The tip of his cock neared Hux's mouth. Hux bared his teeth and looked up with a snarl that faded into a toothy grin when Ren didn't flinch from the danger. Ren merely held his place until Hux leaned forward to lick carefully at the underside of his glans. Hux rubbed his own crotch as he savored the taste of flesh, the heady scent of masculine human filling his nostrils. He licked a long stripe along the shaft. Ren exhaled heavily. One hand was on the base of his cock. The other reached for Hux's hair and carded through it more gently than he had earlier.

Hux returned to the tip, where a bead of precome glistened. Hux tasted that, too. Would he be content with this in his life as a cost of power? Yes, he supposed so. He wrapped his lips around the fat head of the cock and sucked softly, rubbing the tip of his tongue back and forth along the frenulum. Ren whined. That was a good sound. Hux rocked his hips against his hand, tightening and releasing with the motion.

Did he think Ren was serious? Also yes. If he'd wanted him dead, he'd be dead. He wouldn't have made this elaborate subterfuge just for a last-second blowjob before cutting off his head. And if he did, Hux didn't especially care. A little imagined humiliation was nothing next to the burning ache of defeat when he'd realized those troopers were there to arrest him. If it turned out Ren had tricked him? Well, Hux didn't think the man had it in him. It was part of the whole problem. He was too earnest, too easily read, and apparently, too driven by his passions. He needed someone like Hux to guide him.

He pressed forward, opening his jaw and taking Ren deeper. Ren whispered, "Oh, oh, oh," like he was afraid of being overheard. His hand clasped restlessly at Hux's hair. A half dozen other experiences of providing fellatio ran through Hux's mind. Sex had always been meaningless to him, but it obviously mattered to others. It could give him power, if he was careful about it. Most of the time, he had better ways of advancing himself. But maybe this was the best way now. And Hux certainly was enjoying it.

Ren was long enough to gag him, filling his mouth until he was drooling around it, eyes shut as he took in the experience. He'd never had someone so big. He rubbed the head of his own cock through his pants, sucking back and forth on Ren in shallow draws just at his limit. He had to wonder what sort of relationship Ren was proposing. 'Support'? The army, he understood. And cooperation in military objectives. No more coup. Hux had that much. But 'support'? 'I will do everything I can …'?

Hux drew back and started sucking hard, bobbing his head in earnest now. Ren gasped at the increase in tempo, his hips jerking of their own accord a few times. Hux pulled off entirely. "Hold yourself still. You're not an animal." He knew what he was doing and he didn't need Ren's 'help' in the form of fucking his face.

"Sorry." Ren petted his head repeatedly, caressing the side of his neck carefully enough not to hurt the bruising.

"Oh, I could do with more of that," Hux said, appreciating the apology more than the pawing. "Tell me how much you need me." He leaned back in, resuming his task, as Ren began to speak.

"I … I need you. I need … your advice. Your help. Your … cooperation. Not to fight me. So I'm not second-guessing everything. I need … trust. Oh! Oh …"

Hux pulled off for one quick word: "More."

"I want someone … to be with. To talk to. I don't want to be lonely. Rejected. Hated. I want you to quit hating me. I want … Fuck. Ahhh …" Ren's hips jerked again and this time possibly involuntarily. Hux didn't chide him about it. For one thing, he was swallowing gamely around that massive, throbbing cock, knowing that pulling off would only get him a face full of spunk.

He kept rubbing at himself in long pulls, but there was no way this was enough to get him off. He slurped at Ren as he softened slowly, continuing until the man had enough and pulled away. Ren tucked himself away quickly before going to his knees so close their knees touched. They stared at each other – Hux calmly accepting of the situation, Ren looking rattled and impassioned.

"You are naïve," Hux said with a wry smile. He wished he could feel as engaged as Ren looked.

"I'm also a mind reader," Ren said, sobering and putting his bare hand on Hux's cheek as he stared into his eyes. "No one betrayed you. At least not intentionally. But you're harder for me to read."

Ren's gaze dropped. His hand slid to Hux's wet lips, rubbing the saliva there with an engrossed expression. Then his eyes rose to meet Hux's again as the hand moved down to his neck. Ren's hand was a huge, sprawling thing over Hux's smaller throat. It fit snugly right under his jaw, fingers and thumb resting over the arteries on either side of his windpipe. It overlaid the tender, still-healing bruises from whatever the Force had done to him in the aftermath of Snoke's death.

Hux lifted his chin, refusing to be intimidated by the implied threat. Ren might have backed him down with Snoke's body cooling in the background and the fleet in ruins around them, but Hux would not submit this time. His nostrils flared in defiance.

"Tell me," Ren tilted his head after the tension of the situation had become thick enough to be a force of itself, "am I 'naïve' to expect you to honor your side of the deal?"

Hux chuckled bitterly at the whole situation – Ren post-orgasmic and obviously regaining his senses now that the edge was off his lust, and Hux rock hard in his pants at the danger and domination, at the power play between them. He stroked himself lazily – at least he could get some pleasure from this before he was killed by a turn of Ren's notoriously destructive temper. "Saying that was a mistake," he admitted.

"Was it?" Ren's fingers pressed against the blood vessels on the side of his neck. Pain bloomed.

It hurt, and the pressure made Hux's head spin, but was precise enough that it didn't impede his breathing. He could have escaped even that by turning his head or pulling away, but he refused to give Ren the additional satisfaction. He was still bound, unable to raise his hands, unable to defend himself physically so he didn't try. Yet he could still talk, at least for now. "It was an honest one. I'll do whatever I have to to win. You know that. You _have_ to know that, if there is any chance for this." His words at the end were rushed as the edges of the room grew distant and too dim.

"'This'?" Ren's grip lightened.

Clarity rushed back in. Hux blinked a few times, breathing easier, even though it hadn't been his breathing that had been compromised. "Between us."

"So there can be an … 'us'." It wasn't entirely a question. More just wondering aloud. Ren's hand dropped from his throat. "You have yet to agree."

Hux relaxed marginally. They were still negotiating, then. "You ask for everything. I may as well ask the same. Put me on the throne and I'll give you what you want."

Ren waved his hand with an unimpressed expression. The binders released. "You were well on your way to putting yourself there, before I had you brought in." Ren slouched to one side, bracing himself with one long arm. Past him was the throne. Hux's eyes fixed on it only briefly. It wouldn't do to stare. Besides, he couldn't tell if Ren was saying the throne was something he was willing to offer, or just reaffirming that he knew about the coup.

Buying time to think, Hux shifted his attention to rubbing his wrists. He adjusted his shirt cuffs and tried to smooth out the wrinkle the devices had forced into the fabric. His knife was up one sleeve. The troopers had taken his blaster, but not searched him otherwise. His fingertips brushed the pommel. The blade was sharp enough that a single swipe would clear the scabbard, slice open his sleeve, and part the front of Ren's undefended belly, all with the same ease. He knew it was folly to linger on that thought in front of a telepath, but Ren already _knew_. He _knew_ all of this, which implied … "True. You have my confession then. What of it?"

With his free hand, Ren reached out to idly stroke the front of Hux's pants. He felt out Hux's dimensions with an approving hum. The appreciative sound brought with it an embarrassing surge of lust on Hux's part. Hux ran his tongue through his mouth. The taste of the man was still heavy there. His hands went to rest on his own thighs. He looked down, watching as Ren outlined him and palmed him, settling in to a steady, arousing palpation. Ren asked, "Do you still think I'm naïve?"

Now it was Ren playing him like an instrument, same as Hux had imagined doing to him just moments earlier. Hux chuckled and stood, taking himself out of Ren's reach. "I suppose not. I've been wrong before. Let's see if I'm wrong a second time." Boldly, he walked around him and paused next to the throne, looking back to see Ren's expression.

"About what?" Ren asked.

"This," Hux said, seating himself. He crossed his legs and leaned back, trying to pretend he didn't have a straining erection at this, or that he was unconcerned that Ren might kill him anyway. "This is part of your offer." He didn't put it as a question and Ren didn't answer it as though it was one. But he didn't deny it, either. Hux's nostrils flared again. Snoke had died in this chair. The heady prospect of danger made Hux feel positively light-headed.

Ren rose and walked in front of Hux, where a petitioner might stand. He didn't look like he was petitioning. Ren removed the second glove, tossing it aside. Hux caught himself stroking his fingers uneasily on the arms of the chair. He stopped the motion. He wanted to look self-assured and in control, and while he was certainly poised, he knew he wasn't the one really in control here. (Or maybe he was, but he wasn't the one with the _power_.)

Ren brought his hands before him and curled his fingers slowly. There was an odd feeling at Hux's waist – a pressure, then a movement. He refused to look down for a moment and in that time, the fastenings of his pants released and the tendrils of that mystical energy spread along the top of his pants to the sides and back.

He looked down to find his pants were opening, his butt lifting off the seat and the garment pulling down under his cheeks. He gripped the sides of the chair with white knuckles and uncrossed his legs hurriedly, trying to regain some control over his body. He wasn't in control of anything. He was lowered back to the seat, the material of the seat cover cool against his now-bare buttocks.

He was exposed. And still hard. His balls were aching. His heart was pounding. His breath was short. He stared at Ren, giving the man his complete attention. He hadn't been hurt. That was what was running through his mind on repeat. Hux knew the behavior of dangerously abusive men. He knew more than most the destructive capability of the Force. This was not either.

There was one thing he had complete mastery over, it occurred to him, and that was the thing Ren had asked of him – 'willingness'. Ren stepped forward, leaning to rest his hands on Hux's knees, looking into his eyes like he was trying to read something there. Hux's eyes widened a little. If they struck this bargain, he might actually get the throne. He might get everything he'd ever wanted. Because he didn't see anger or refusal in that unguarded face.

But he had to give Ren what he wanted in return. It wasn't just support, trust, and companionship, but the '_you_' Ren had said. Hux wasn't sure he was even capable of it. Was it within himself to truly give of himself to another? To Kylo Ren, after all the bad blood between them? Making an offer was different than having it accepted.

Ren sunk to his knees between Hux's feet. His hands slid up the bunched fabric of Hux's pants to touch lightly at the exposed skin of his hips. Hux pulled off his gloves, frowning in consternation about … everything. It felt wrong to accept reciprocation if he wasn't going to carry through. Yet he wanted to carry through. Everything he wanted was being offered. He was just … uncertain. He'd never had anything without fighting for it and although he'd certainly fought, he'd never fought for _this_. He didn't feel like he deserved it.

Ren was leaning in, his breath hot across Hux's skin. He supposed it was a good thing the man had him arrested when he was fresh from the shower. He twitched as he felt Ren's nose bump his shaft, then the tip of his tongue lave across him. Hesitantly, Hux said, "You are the supreme leader of the First Order. You do not _have_ to do this. Not even for me."

Ren looked up at him with an oddly smug smile. "I know."

"You enjoy this?" Hux said, his voice pitched higher than he would have expected of himself. He was panting now.

"I've never done it before. You seemed to enjoy it."

A fucking virgin. Kriff! "Well, that's because I'm … well, jaded." Hux wondered what would happen if Ren didn't think he was good enough. What if he made the deal and Ren discovered how pathetic he really was? Didn't Ren know all this ambition was Hux's compensation for the yawning pit of insufficiency within himself? Untroubled, Ren was licking at him, experimenting with slipping the head of his cock between those plush lips. Hux groaned softly. His butt cheeks clenched.

"You're thinking very loudly," Ren said softly. "It is _very_ satisfying that your barriers come down during this. I told you I wanted what you had to offer. I meant it." With that, Ren took him inside his mouth entirely. It was hot and wet and enveloping. Hux nearly came from that alone. If he hadn't been dealing with the shock from Ren's words, he would have.

"Well, I- I- I don't know why I'm trying to hold a conversation." No, actually, he knew why – otherwise he was going to orgasm immediately. He sunk his hands into Ren's hair, holding the man's head still. Never one to follow orders well, verbal or otherwise, Ren still moved his tongue, then shifted to slow sucks. Hux told him, "Oh yes. Yes, that. Please." It didn't matter what he deserved. This was what he was getting. No, _taking_. For himself.

Ren made a humming noise of assent and continued, the suction pulling at him, bringing him inexorably to his peak. Hux twined his legs around Ren's and leaned back, letting go of his head and moving his hands to hold Ren's forearms. Ren's hands were on the small of his back. The orgasm coiled inside him and released with a throbbing sensation in his groin. _I'm coming_, he thought, not sure how much of his thoughts Ren could read or what level of politeness was expected in terms of notification. Ren swallowed him down either way.

"No, that's enough. Please." As soon as he was able, Hux curled his fingers under Ren's jaw and urged him away from his softening dick. Ren licked his lips and looked up. As always, his expression was too open and raw, but Hux knew he'd be damned if he claimed he didn't like that look on him. It looked like he'd rocked Ren's world even though Hux was the one who'd come.

Panting as he wound down, Hux said, "Outside of formulaic manners, 'please' isn't something I've said to anyone in years." He stroked his thumb over Ren's lower cheek. "Those I confided in about the coup will have to be spared."

Ren arched a brow and pulled his head away a few inches. He looked to the side and said quietly, "The fleet …"

Even though it seemed Ren had spoken to himself, Hux asked, "The fleet? What of it?"

Ren shook his head and looked back to him. "I have to learn from the past. It will be done. Your 'friends' will be spared."

He didn't consider them friends, but he didn't argue it. "Thank you." Gratitude, too, was something he hadn't had reason to express in a long while. "This, between us," Hux leaned closer. Ren straightened to bring their faces into better alignment. "This must be legitimized somehow. That's important to me." He spoke softly, quietly, like he was the one now afraid they might be overheard. But it was one thing to blow someone or otherwise exchange sexual favors. It was another to enter into a relationship. "You can't change your mind. I will not be a kept man or a whore. I will-"

"It will be done." Ren's voice was firm and definite.

Hux was silent for a moment, absorbing that he would not be to Ren what his mother had been to Brendol. He exhaled slowly. "You will have my loyalty." He touched the side of Ren's face again. "And my willingness. The rest … the rest will have to come. As you said, I will do everything I can to address it." He couldn't simply decide to trust someone or force himself to stop hating them. But it would happen naturally if they agreed to a truce and treated each other differently. It was already hard to find the hate, but at the moment he was still swimming in endorphins. "Deal?"

"Deal."


End file.
